This is the 31st complaint filed by the Public Attorney's Office over the controversial anti-dengue vaccine.

AFP, file

31st PAO Dengvaxia complaint is over doctor's death

(Philstar.com) - January 24, 2019 - 4:20pm

MANILA, Philippines — The Public Attorney’s Office on Thursday filed its 31st criminal complaint related to the controversial anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia, which it said is to blame for the death of a 33-year-old doctor.

The mother of Kendrick Gotoc, a 33-year-old doctor, and PAO trooped to the Department of Justice to file obstruction of justice, reckless imprudence resulting in homicide, torture and violation of Consumer Act against Health Secretary Francisco Duque, former DOH chief Janette Garin and 37 others.

PAO conducted a forensic examination on the body of Gotoc, where tissue samples of the body were used for a hispathological examination. The examination showed that the doctor died due to multi-organ failure.

“The foregoing finding is consistent with the findings on the autopsies conducted on the other Dengvaxia victims; particularly that the children became sick after vaccination,” PAO said.

PAO called the DOH order to conduct an autopsy on bodies of alleged victims of Dengvaxia as a “counter-measure to challenge and contest the PAO Forensic Team’s findings—undoubtedly a defense strategy.”

Dengvaxia 'scare'

Doctors for Truth and Welfare had earlier warned against the outbreaks of potentially deadly diseases in “epic proportion” unless the Dengvaxia scare is stopped.

“We call for a halt to the continuous spread of unproven claims of deaths caused by the dengue vaccine by the same unqualified but noisy people, who are largely responsible for the fall in the vaccine confidence in the country,” the group of doctors said in a statement last December.

DOH also said that the Dengvaxia controversy has, in part, caused a decline in measles vaccination and an outbreak of the deadly disease in the Philippines.

China has rejected as “unwelcome” the call of the United Kingdom, France and Germany on the South China Sea claimants to respect the arbitration ruling of 2016 and the rules-based framework laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The Philippines and China effectively consigned to limbo on Thursday the UNCLOS-based arbitral ruling in 2016 on their maritime disputes, and moved to explore instead a wider Code of Conduct for resolving conflicts in the South China Sea.

It would be a betrayal of public trust should the Duterte administration accept China’s rejection of the landmark ruling that invalidated its sweeping claim over the South China Sea, parts of which is the West Philippine Sea, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario said Saturday.